THE ESTATES GENERAL

BACKGROUND By 1787, France’s economy is in ruins for several reasons Lavish spending by Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette Poor taxing policies Seven Years War ( ) and the American Revolution ( )

LOUIS XVI King Louis XVI promises to call together the Estates General, which had not met since 1614 Representative body (think Congress) Louis hopes this will solve France’s problems The Estates General is scheduled to meet on May 5 th, 1789 at Versailles

KING LOUIS XVI OF FRANCE

WHAT WAS THE ESTATES GENERAL? This was a legislative assembly for the different French classes (Congress) The Estates General was made up of three classes Clergy - 1 st Estate Nobility - 2 nd Estate Bourgeoisie (including peasants) - 3 rd Estate

CLERGY By 1789, the 1 st Estate (Clergy) was made up of 100,000 people Owned 5-10% of the land All property was tax-exempt

NOBILITY 2 nd Estate

NOBILITY The 2 nd Estate (Nobility) was made up of 400,000 people Enjoyed the better government jobs Was also tax-exempt

BOURGEOISIE The 3 rd Estate (Bourgeoisie, peasants) was made up of 25 million people The 3 rd Estate paid all of the taxes This means the burden fell on France’s poorest Each Estate had one vote The 1 st and 2 nd Estates usually voted together

BOURGEOISIE The 3 rd Estate had to sit by themselves at the Estates General They had to wear black robes Had to enter the Estates General through a side door The 3 rd Estate (98% of France) is getting fed up…